I Choose Joy!

Day 15! We are 31 weeks and 1 day today! Each day is a victory... Adalynn continues to check in great. I believe we will have another ultrasound next week and they will be able to tell how much she weighs as well as how much amniotic fluid is in the placenta. The last report showed 3 cubic centimeters of fluid (I believe), but she keeps reproducing more and more each day and I keep drinking more and more water! I do continue to leak each day, not gushes...just a little at a time. That is expected, they said... really, this MICU seems to be operating just fine under the circumstances!

Tom and the boys were here for a short time this morning... I have begun to treasure what ever joy comes my way--whether a visit that lasts 2/3 days or less than 24 hours! I have also come to the conclusion that if Mom is upset when they leave then that translates to all the boys. So I told myself and them that I won't be sad when they leave... that I will just focus on when they are coming back! And, you know, there were dry eyes, smiles and a lot less anxiousness or sadness in the room. I remember hearing Robert Cupp talk about how the woman/wife/mom sets the atmosphere in the home... I truly believe that. I can help with the family's emotional state with this intentionality! So, with God's help... I vow to be physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually strong!

Before they left, Tom was reading Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest online... and he found this--more wisdom that just hit us between the eyes!

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life. (focus verse: Heb. 13:5)

And several days ago, I found this in my Life Application Bible... it was an outline/highlight of Mary, mother of Jesus, and it said this:

Lessons from her (Mary's) life:
...God's best servants are often ordinary people available to Him.
...God's plans involve extraordinary events in ordinary people's lives.
...A person's character is revealed by his or her response to the unexpected.

I have said from the beginning that I pray to have a heart like Mary. That is truly my desire in and through this whole journey. I have to lay it as His feet each day... I know that His purpose is much greater than mine. And I know that His strength CAN become mine and that HE will be glorified in this ... if I just get out of His way! :)

Love and blessings to you today... Karen